Starlit Cheiras
by FallenxAngel321
Summary: Amy is special. Okay, she has special pink fur, but she's more than that. Shadow is also special. More than he thinks he is. So what is the connection between them? The sky has fallen and only unity will raise it up again. In the field of starlit cheiras
1. Gorziken Kingdom and Kara

CHAPTER 1

"He loves me. He loves me. He loves me...Oh! He's going to marry me!" Amy Rose squealed as she plucked the petals of the blue rose in her hand. Smiling, she threw down the empty stem and sighed happily. "Oh, Sonic. You'll be mine for sure today!"

Determined to succeed, she jumped up, ready to charge ahead into the world, and took a deep breath. Almost instantly, the melodic siren's song of chaos emeralds hit her ears. Some were very faint and some were clear, getting louder and louder in an incredibly fast rate. In the distance, she could see a blue burr heading her way. Without another thought, Amy ran down the little hill she was sitting on and threw herself on the speeding owner of the chaos emerald.

CRASH!

"Oh, Sonic! I knew you couldn't stay away from me!" Amy squealed as the hedgehog underneath her grunted, trying to squirm away from her deadly hug.

"Umm. Amy? I don't think Shadow likes being pinned to ground." Sonic said.

Amy blinked and stared at the annoyed Ultimate Lifeform before leaping onto Sonic, who was more than prepared for the crushing touch of the pink female. Shadow slowly rose and dusted himself off as Sonic endured the usual affectionate gestures. She let out a small purr as Sonic returned her hug in a friendly manner. Between the power radiating off the two male hedgehogs and the chiming treasures they each carried with them, Amy was having a little difficulty remaining sane. Her entire soul itched to claim the energy. The strength used to keep down her urges sent shivers down her back.

"You know Amy, I realize that it's a warm day outside, but if you're shivering, you should still wear a jacket or something," Sonic said. Amy looked up into his eyes and smiled.

"Aw, you're so considerate," Amy giggled, making Sonic blush.

Shadow cleared his throat. Amy huffed at the interruption. Sonic silently thanked Shadow for the interruption.

"If you don't mind, Amy, I think Sonic and I should finish our little race," Shadow said as kindly as he could.

Amy smiled at him. She really wanted to yell at him, but how could she? I mean, it wasn't as if he did anything wrong. It was her fault for interrupting their race to begin with...but then again, why should she care? She was just starting to get cozy with Sonic and he interrupted them! Just because he's some unearthly, alien, "Ultimate Lifeform" he thinks he can do anything he wants! Not on her watch!

Just as she opened her mouth to yell at Shadow, the unthinkable happened.

The scent of Cheiras, the only flowers that grew near the Gorziken Kingdom, swamped the air in a sudden frenzy of stormy energy. The three hedgehogs were engulfed in a smoky haze as the presence of another chaos emerald approached. Amy Rose's previous irritation reached new levels. Impossible! There was no way they could have found her this early! She had made sure to smother her essence to the normal levels of a young female hedgehog. This turn of events was going to destroy everything she had worked hard to build here! How dare they! More importantly, how will she cover this up? What would Sonic think? About this? About her? The mere idea of losing Sonic sent her heart in a spiral towards the ground. Either way, she had to lose her disguise. If she left it on, she would be defenseless against their attacks and even if she did, the only reason she put it on in the first place was to get closer to Sonic, which has been ruined thanks to them. Reaching into her essence, she shredded the cloak she put over her chaos energy, freeing it from years of captivity and slamming it against the intruders.

Shadow and Sonic flinched away from Amy's overwhelming energy.

"Wha-" Sonic started.

"What's going on?" Shadow demanded. "Who are they?"

"Unwanted visitors from Gorziken Kingdom." Amy growled as the storm surrounded them.

"That's an unusually cruel thing to say to your superior," a honey rich voice said from the storm. The smoke in front of them cleared to present a beautiful young tigress with an army of jaguars fanned out behind her. "Then again, you _did_ betray us by running away."

"Princess Kara," Amy spat. "How in the Blue Moons did you find me?"

"Lucky guess?" Kara shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. I need you to return."

"Unlikely."

Kara snapped her fingers and within seconds, the jaguars had completed a circle around them. Kara glared at Amy with hot fury.

"You don't seem to realize your situation, my dear Rosetta," Kara purred.

Then, Amy Rose did the most childish thing you could possibly do in a situation like this. She stuck out her tongue.

Offended, Kara pounced, missed, and tackled Sonic instead. Before Kara could even feel shocked, Amy summoned her hammer and launched it at her.

"Keep your dirty paws off my Sonikku!"

Kara blinked slowly as realization dawned on her. "Oh? How interesting." She summoned a silver gun engraved with curly ivy designs and pointed it at Sonic. "Say goodbye!"

She pulled the trigger, but Sonic had reacted fast enough to dodge it just in time.

"You're going to have to be faster to get a piece of me!" Sonic said, giving Kara his trademark smirk. Jumping high into the air, he started to spin dash the surrounding jaguars, but after the first ten went down, Sonic ended up on the bottom of a mountain of jaguars who had thrown themselves at him in a desperate attempt to stop him.

"I didn't realize you made some pretty strong friends, Rosetta." Kara growled. With another snap of her fingers, the jaguars on top of Sonic handcuffed him to Kara. "There now. If you want your beloved blueberry back, then you're going to have to return with us."

"Wh-! Hey! I'm not a blueberry!" Sonic shouted.

Amy continued her refusal silently.

"I see." Kara said. She moved closer to Sonic, cuddling up against him and purring sweetly. Amy grit her teeth and swallowed the oncoming insults she had. "Fine then."

Kara took Sonic's chaos emerald and then her own. Amy's eyes widened.

Amy turned towards Shadows and reached towards his chaos emerald.

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

The world around them evaporated, replaced by the chaos energy hurtling them towards a new destination. Amy sent blast after blast of her own energy, forcing jaguars to fall out of the energy travel zone. Summoning up a final blow, Amy aimed at Kara.

"Wait, Amy! Stop!" Shadow cried and launched himself at her. The unexpected attack forced Amy to cause an explosion between her and Kara, sending both parties out of the chaos energy zone.

Lush green trees and bushes appeared around Amy and Shadow, indicating that their location was in some peaceful woods. The sky was painted in every different shade of orange, but the sun itself was a bright yellow. There weren't any grass, however. In replacement, the ground was covered in Cheiras. Their scent was everywhere around them. Amy blinked open her eyes to glare at Shadow.

"Why did you stop me, Shadow?" Amy screeched. "I could have gotten her!"

"Did you forget Sonic is handcuffed to her? If you hit her, they would have gone down together," Shadow shouted back.

Amy blinked. She was still mad, of course, but he had a point. Frustrated, she growled at him.

"Whatever. Get off me," she commanded as she realized she was pinned under Shadow. Shadow's ruby eyes flared.

"No."

"What?"

"Not until I get some answers," he growled. Amy glared at him.

"Fine! What do you want to know?"

"I want to know what's going on. Who was that, why did she call you Rosetta, and what did she want with you?"

Amy huffed. Oh, great. It was storytelling time.

She started with the day she met Kara. She was a young duchess back then and as proud as any other wealthy seven year old girl. On a cool autumn night, she went to Gorziken Castle to attend the tenth birthday of Princess Kara, the Daughter of Night. It was a very special day for Kara, because it was the day she would be given the Gifts of the Blue Moon. However, when the Priestess was about to bestow the Gifts upon her, the Blue Moon rejected Kara. It gathered itself into a ball of energy and flew away from her. Panicked, Kara chased after it. The whole thing created chaos with people rushing to get out of the way of the Gift and Kara. During that time, Amy was on the balcony when the energy ball headed straight for her. As the Gift fused with Amy, Kara ran into her, toppling them both over and into the fountain below. Afterwards, the Priestess announced that the Blue Moon had chosen Amy to have the Gift for a reason. Because of this, she was forced to live with Kara in the Castle. Despite it all, Amy and Kara became great friends until the night the King and Queen were killed.

It happened in the throne room, right in front of Kara and Amy. An assassin dressed as a farmer released a flock of chickens and during the commotion, shot Kara's parents. Kara hated Amy from then on. She believed that Amy wanted her parents dead since she did not even try to save them with the Blue Moon's Gift.

"Okay...so I get that she hates you now, but why would she want you to return?" Shadow asked.

"The Gift of the Blue Moon's purpose is to defend Gorziken Kingdom from its enemies," Amy sighed. "Kara needs me to be the Kingdom's weapon. That's why she calls me Rosetta, you know. Rosetta, Princess Kara's living pink shield. With me by her side, she got many of the neighboring kingdoms to bow down to her rule."

"Is that why you ran away? Because you didn't want her using you anymore?"

Amy paused. "I ran away because I fell in love with Sonic, of course! It was love at first sight I tell you!"

Shadow stared into her eyes. He knew she was lying, but realized it was not the appropriate time to ask. He knew better than anyone what it was like to be haunted by the past.

"Okay, so I told you what's going on. Would you please get off me now?" Amy mumbled.

"One more thing."

"What is it?" Amy asked, annoyed.

"I'm feeling kind of giddy."

"What?" Amy watched as Shadow's normally hard ruby eyes liquefied. "Oh no."

Caught up in her own story, she didn't realize how late it had gotten. The half moon was gleaming in the sky in all its silver glory and the Cheiras were in full bloom. This was one of the natural defenses of Gorziken Kingdom. During the day, the Cheira's filled the air with its sweet scent, but every night, its petals opened to release happy toxins. Naturally, Amy was immune because of the Blue Moon's Gift. Shadow on the other hand was neither immune nor used to it.

"Ammmyyyyy," Shadow whined. "I wuvv youuuuu!"

Amy blushed as Shadow hugged her and nuzzled into her neck. How was she going to track down Kara and Sonic with Shadow in this state?


	2. Lucerne and Armistice

CHAPTER 2

Silky quills slipping through his fingers. The scent of Cheiras turning his mind into mush. The color pink painting his vision into a sakura wonderland. Emerald eyes scorching his body. Her breath. Her heart. To him, she was all he could see. She was the night sky. She was the world. She was _everything_.

But he wasn't hers. Sonic was.

He wanted to pull away from her, but he couldn't. His mind was intoxicated by the Cheiras. He was no longer in control.

"Get away from me, Shadow," Amy warned.

He felt himself take a step forward. Her sweet voice was calling to him. He watched as nervousness contorted her face. As he was reaching for her, she closed her eyes. He got closer and closer. Heartbeats pulsing against his chest, he leaned towards her when all of a sudden, he got a wake-up call. The Cheiras' trap lifted off his conscience and he blinked, focusing his eyes first on Amy Rose's blushing face and then on the alarm clock- Amy's hammer. It took him awhile to get his thoughts re-organized. _What just happened?_

He got up, rubbing the pain on his head, and sensed Amy shifting back into a defensive position.

"Don't. Once was good enough." he sneered.

"Sorry," Amy squeaked. "Are you okay now? You're not going to attack me?"

Shadow blushed and turned his face slightly away from Amy.

"We wasted enough time here. Let's get moving," he mumbled. From the corner of his eye, he saw Amy nod.

Dawn was cleaning away the night sky and slowly bringing the morning sun out. Amy was leading since she was the one who knew where to go. Shadow didn't mind. He was currently preoccupied with mentally yelling at himself.

Those flowers are dangerous, he thought. He made a note to himself to stay away from them the next time. His thoughts went back to Amy. He couldn't believe he did that. Him! The Ultimate Lifeform! What good was it to be ultimate if he couldn't even resist some stupid flowers by himself? He should have apologized to Amy as soon as he gained control, but couldn't admit that he was weak. His pride wouldn't allow that. Besides, it wasn't his fault. He was temporarily insane because of the Cheiras. Yes, it was the flowers' faults for his actions. He only wanted to embrace her because the flowers told him to- not because he was in love with her. Nope. No love for the Ultimate Lifeform.

Satisfied, he looked up and watched Amy. The morning sun was half way up the sky and although the tree tops provided shade, there were little beams of sunlight dappling the pink hedgehog who occasionally walked under them. The effect the sunlight had on her quills was brilliant. Her slender form was pleasing to the eyes and he had to admit that she was attractive. No. More than attractive, she was beautiful- an angel descended from Heaven. She was the exact replica of a rose in full bloom. A Rose...His Rose...Strange. He felt like he called someone that before.

... Someone named Armistice, a word meaning peace. But who was Armistice? He couldn't remember anything about anyone named Armistice. The name was sudden and it confused him. It made his heart beat painfully. He visibly frowned trying to remember. If she was significant enough to make him feel pain, why couldn't he remember her?

"Shadow, get down!" Amy's fierce whisper cut through his thoughts. Without a word, he crouched and looked in between tall bushes to the road he didn't even realize they found. The unmistakable sound of a horse-drawn carriage thundered in his ears. He felt Amy's ears draw back in anger. "Slave Traders."

At this classification, Shadow inspected the carriage even more closely. The whole thing was guarded by six men with one of them driving the carriage. He suspected that the leader was the one inside. Attached to the little private box was a cart loaded with supplies and cages. There were five cages in all with two of them occupied. One held a lavender female hedgehog who couldn't be more than seven years old. Her face was streaked with dry tears and her clothes were ruffled and covered in dirt. In the other cage, twin female birds, one black and the other a dark brown, were loudly sobbing in each other's arms, even though they looked older than the hedgehog. His attention cut back to Amy as she got up, revealing her presence, and shouted at the driver to stop.

"Let them go!" Amy commanded.

The carriage halted and a very fat duck waded out of the carriage. Dressed in a blue striped suit with multiple rubies adorning his fingers, he let out an annoyed quack. The snakes around him immediately started to grab Amy, but she was too fast. She elbowed the first two and advanced towards the duck. Sighing, Shadow quickly dispatched the rest of snakes with chaos spear before they could hurt Amy. The duck was obviously in complete shock and started to back away into his carriage. However, before he could shut the door, Amy grabbed it with her right hand and raised her left to slap him. Shadow sensed the chaos power Amy put into her slap as she made the final blow.

Interesting. The moon's power worked during the daytime.

Within a few minutes, they got the girls free from their cages and the slave traders hung over the cart on the road.

"Thank you so much!" the birds chirped. "How could we possibly repay you?"

Amy's hungry stomach growled before she could answer. She laughed away her embarrassment.

"If you don't mind. I'm kinda hungry right now," Amy answered.

"That's okay! Our village is not too far from here!" the lavender hedgehog shouted. "Oh, please say you'll come back to the village with us! Our leader, Lucerne, would want to thank you, too!"

Shadow's ears twitched at that name. Lucerne. It was another name his mind seemed to be familiar with, but he couldn't remember why. He sensed a relationship between that name and the other one, Armistice. That was two names he knew yet did not know so far today. Was it an after-effect from the Cheiras?

"Well, if it means food, I guess we could take a slight detour," Amy sighed. "Is that okay with you, Shadow?"

Shadow remained silent.

"I'll take that as a yes," Amy grumbled.

Their village really wasn't far. However, it still took them most of the day to arrive at Windsong Village. The village was very small and very poor. There were only three buildings built from wood and stone- the others looked as if they were small mounds of dirt and grass with the doors and windows carved out using shovels. The overall structure was very tribal with all the homes facing the center in which a large hearth blazed. There, the group was welcomed by grinning males, weeping females, and wide-eyed children- all of whom were very grateful to Amy and Shadow for saving the three girls. They were ushered into the biggest building north of the hearth and sat down at a grand table. Women and chefs were frantically setting food in front of them as Amy allowed herself to gorge on the free meal. Not wanting to offend anyone, Shadow took a piece of each dish and nibbled on them.

An hour later, Lucerne, an old, grey female hedgehog hobbled in with a twisted staff supporting most of her weight. She had no wrinkles, but her skin was very pale as if she haven't seen the sun in years. However, it was not her age but her eyes that drew Shadow's attention. Green eyes. They were not like Amy's emerald eyes, but they were close to it.

"Thank you for saving our village's girls. We are glad to have them back with us," Lucerne said. "I am Lucerne, the leader of this village. May I ask the names of our heroes?"

"My name's Amy and this is Shadow!" Amy replied. "We're on our way to Gorziken Castle, so if you don't mind, we would like to leave as soon as possible. We're kind of in a hurry."

"Gorziken Castle?" Lucerne questioned. She put on her glasses to look at them better. As soon as she got a good look, her eyes widened with surprise. "Armistice? Is that you?"

Shadow flinched at the word. The unknown relationship between the two names, Lucerne and Armistice, was solved.

"Who's Armistice?" Amy asked. Lucerne paused and blinked at them a couple of time before composing herself.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Lucerne apologized. "For a moment there, you looked like my older sister."

"It's fine," Amy said. "So anyways, thank you for the food. We'll be going now."

"Oh please don't leave yet!" Lucerne cried. "At least stay here for the night. We would love for you to stay with us for a bit longer. Besides, it's dangerous to go near Cheiras at night."

The casual mention of the flower's poison at night brought a blush on Shadows cheeks and made Amy accept the offer in lightning speed.

That night, Shadow couldn't sleep. The name Armistice kept him awake. Finally, he gave up and decided to talk to Lucerne about it. He left the warm bed the village gave to him for the night and went to find Lucerne. Outside, the soldiers on guard were more than happy to guide him to Lucerne's private home, so it didn't take him long to reach the small house. The door to Lucerne's house was engraved with kindergarten pictures of the sun and two hedgehogs holding hands. Shadow's already restless spirit became unnerved from the picture on the door. Not wanting to stare at it any longer, he quickly knocked and when he could hear no answer, went ahead and went in.

Lucerne was sitting peacefully in a velvet chair by the fire. She was gazing forlornly at a picture of a pink hedgehog. A pink hedgehog that looked a lot like Amy. They would be twins if the mysterious hedgehog in the picture was a few years younger. The picture nearly drove Shadow mad.

"Tell me about her." Shadow said feverishly, causing Lucerne to jump in her seat and spin around to stare at him in surprise. "Tell me about Armistice!"


	3. Stupid Shadow

CHAPTER 3

(Amy)

Shadow was quiet. Yeah, ok. Amy had to admit that he was usually quiet, but the silence Shadow had wrapped around himself at the moment was one of those things that ended up with a sudden confession or some major tears. Since both ideas were out of his character, she concluded that he was upset with her. It wasn't just the silent treatment that caused this idea to form inside her head. Shadow hadn't looked at her once since they left the village. It was frustrating.

The overwhelming frustration reminded her of the depressing dream she had last night. In fact, she felt just like the male hedgehog in her dream. It was an odd dream. She couldn't really remember it well, but she remembered the male hedgehog who was absorbed with staring at something or someone. She didn't know who it was, but whoever it may be was lucky. The male hedgehog stared at her (it had to be a female, because it couldn't be a male or an object with the way he was staring) with longing in his red wine eyes- a desire incomprehensible to the simple mind- a demanding plea for her to just turn his way so that he may see her beautiful face.

Amy eventually found herself staring at Shadow's eyes. They were almost the same shade of red. However, where the dream male's eyes were loving and passionate, Shadow's eyes were stern and cold. She was so mesmerized by his eyes that when he finally spoke, Amy missed it.

"Uh...sorry," Amy apologized. "What did you say?"

Shadow continued to avoid eye contact with Amy. The sun was high in the sky now. It blazed mercilessly, turning the gravel underneath them into hot coal and exposing every hiding shadow in the forest around them. Ahead, a large silver bridge weaved in and out between various crystalline tree-like structures that grew out from underneath the moat surrounding Gorziken Kingdom. After a few tense minutes, he spoke again.

"Stay here," he mumbled. "I'm going to scout ahead since we're getting close to Gorziken Kingdom."

"Oh, ok," Amy stuttered.

Amy waited until Shadow had reached the middle of the bridge before letting out a frustrated growl. Why wouldn't he look at her? What did she do to make him hate her so much? She couldn't remember anything she did that would have caused him to hate her. Amy was so absorbed in her thoughts that the sounds of a chaos emerald came as a shock to her. No. Not one, but two. There were two chaos emeralds near and since she could still hear Shadow's on the bridge, there could only be one other person it came with.

"Rosettaaa," Kara sang in her honey-sweet voice. The beautiful tigress appeared from behind a large oak by the moat. "You sure took your time coming here. Trying my patience are we?"

"Oh, Kara," Amy purred. "Don't be delusional. It is _you_ who is trying _my_ patience."

"Hmph. Did you forget I have your blueberry lover as my prisoner?"

"More reason to fight you then."

"Bring it on!"

"Don't get confident just because you have two chaos emeralds!"

Amy's essence solidified into a scythe as Kara took out her ivy gun that was being powered up by the chaos emeralds. There were no hesitations as the two females fought. Kara somersaulted backwards while shooting Amy with each available moment, but Amy managed to deflect them using her scythe. The second Kara paused in her shooting, Amy leaped up into the air and began to descend with a final blow. Kara instinctively fired at Amy.

It happened very fast. The upset of massive power in between them caused an explosion that reached all the way to Gorziken Castle. White light. A black and red striped hedgehog calling her name. Shadow. Darkness. And then a field of Cheiras.

Amy blinked in the view. The sky was bright with numerous stars and all around her were Cheiras in full bloom, which was odd since the moon was absent from the night sky. Confused, she tentatively picked up a Cheira and sniffed it. The happy toxins were absent. She let it drop from her fingers as she stood up and surveyed her surroundings. She didn't recognize the place, but she felt safe here. The night sky seemed like a blanket of dreams, protecting her from the realms of daylight and reality. Suddenly, one by one, the stars fell, shooting across the universe to land on the little hill a few yards away, and for each twinkling spark that landed, a Cheira lit up in response until the entire land was an ocean of purple luminescence. The Cheiras' beauty was so radiant that she forgot about the stars cluttering together. However, they commanded her attention once more as the presence of a familiar hedgehog called out to her.

Amy's eyes widened as the male hedgehog from her dream smiled at her. He seemed to be lit within as if all the stars in the universe made up his form, making him more divine and mysterious. He was as brilliant as the night itself- the moon of this eternal night- the lord of darkness- the king of stars. Once again, she found herself bewitched by his liquid eyes, two pools of red wine sparkling possessively. As they came closer, he reached for her hand gracefully.

That is when Amy woke up.

Ba-Bmp. Ba-Bmp. Ba-Bmp. Ba-Bmp.

Racing through galaxies, Amy's heart beat erratically.

Ba-Bmp. Ba-Bmp. Ba-Bmp. Ba-Bmp.

"Amy? Are you okay?"

Startled, Amy jumped out of velvet covers and tumbled onto the floor. She realized that she was in her room. Not her room back in the little pink house she made her home a few years back, but the exclusively expensive, red velvet, intricately designed carpeted room she had all to herself in Gorziken Castle. It was just how she left it. The curtains were flung to the side with the door to balcony wide open, the floor was littered with black cushions, both large and small, and her desk, the only thing in the room that hinted at her true personality, was neatly organized and very tidy. After this quick survey, Amy looked up into the eyes of Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Sonic!" Amy smiled.

Sonic leaned down and helped Amy stand up.

"Nice to see you, too, Ames." Sonic chuckled.

"Are you okay? Did she do anything to you?" Amy asked frantically.

"I'm fine. Staying here is a blast! I get to eat all the hotdogs I want and run around the Kingdom Gardens as long as I want!"

"That's great," Amy sighed in relief. Sonic stopped and stared at her for a minute. Amy stared back quizzically. "What's wrong?"

"You sure you're okay, Ames?" Sonic asked again. "You looked like you were having a heart attack."

Ba-Bmp.

Amy took a deep breath, slowed down her heartbeats, and smiled coyly at Sonic.

"Sorry, it's just that...whenever I'm around you, my heart starts pounding," Amy mumbled.

Sonic blushed slightly and scratched his head. Their reunion was interrupted when a jaguar soldier knocked on the door to get their attention.

"If you're feeling better, Princess Kara would like you to attend the Council Meeting in her stand." the jaguar announced.

"Wha-Hey!" Amy protested. "I refuse!"

Sonic took Amy's hand and pleaded with her.

"Amy, Kara has been in critical condition until just this morning. That explosion may have only knocked you unconscious, but it nearly killed Kara."

Amy grit her teeth and agreed to attend unwillingly.

As the Council Members droned on and on about the current events, Amy allowed her regretfully guilty emotions to swamp around her. Kara was her enemy, so there was no reason to feel guilty. It was Kara's fault for shooting. Amy never planned to kill her, so the shots were unnecessary. Then again, any reasonable person would have reacted just like Kara. Sighing, Amy gave up trying to hate Kara for being stuck in a dusty room with old people.

"So what do you say, Rosetta?"

"What?" Amy asked, blinking out of her world.

"The war! Haven't you been listening?" an old frog to her left croaked.

Amy spun around to face him and stuck out her tongue.

"Why you-" the frog cried.

"Now, now. Sage, have patience." a dog to Amy's right cajoled. "Rosetta, please. It is best to act according to your own age."

"But-!" the frog and Amy started.

"HUSH!" the dog shouted.

Everyone in the room quieted down and stared at the old dog before resuming the discussion.

"So what war?" Amy finally asked.

"The war brewing between the Solaris Mountains and the Luna Coast. Bad blood has always been between them, but recently, both sides have been on the edge. We know that Luna Coast is nervous because of their missing deity, but we don't know what's going on with the Solaris Mountains." the Chief of Arms, an old raccoon, said.

"Missing deity? You mean their god abandoned them?" Amy asked.

"Seems like it," the raccoon answered. "They haven't had an interaction with the Night God in decades! No one knows the Gods' businesses, but for one to severe connection for so long...it's just unheard of!"

"The Night God is missing? What about our Lady, the Blue Moon?"

"She is still with us. The fact that you are here is proof of that."

"Did anyone try to ask her about her Master?"

"We did. I believe her answer was, 'The sky has fallen. Unity will raise it up again.'"

"A fallen sky..." Amy pondered out loud.

"That's why we want you to sneak into Solaris Mountains and find out what you can about the situation up there." the frog croaked up.

"You want me to go into the Morning Realm? Are you kidding me?" Amy cried out. "Do you know how dangerous that place is?"

"Yes, yes, but since you are protected by the Blue Moon, we think that you will have a better chance at survival." the raccoon reasoned. Amy was speechless. "We are willing to pay for your services..."

"I'm not interested in money." Amy said curtly.

"Of course, but perhaps your freedom is a worthy cause to fight for?"

Amy paused.

"I am free. No one controls me." Amy stood up from her seat slowly. "And you can't make me go!"

As she was walking out the door, the old dog called out after her.

"Act your age, Rosetta!"

Amy grumbled to herself the whole way from the Council Room to the Market City. People everywhere were packing up, getting ready to go home for the day. By the time Amy reached the outer walls surrounding Gorziken's Island, the moon was rising high into the sky. She stopped marching and sat down on a bench nearby.

"Oh, Blue Moon," Amy whispered into the night. "Why did you have to choose me?"

"So you're the Rosetta?"

Amy sprang up and turned around only to stare at the rough cloth of a sac. Her feet were swept up from underneath her and before she could even get over the shock, she found herself stuffed in a bag with Dawn Dust, a powder only available in the Solaris Mountains that puts people to sleep.

"Release me!" Amy shouted.

"Milord, it seems the powder is ineffective against her." someone said.

"Very well, knock her out," someone else ordered.

Amy struggled a few more moments before someone knocked her out. For the second time ever since she returned to her homeland, Amy Rose plunged into darkness.

(Shadow)

"Hey, Faker!" Shadow shouted. Sonic turned around, clearly annoyed. "Where's Amy?"

"She's in the Council Room," Sonic answered.

Shadow nodded and started to walk away, but then realized he didn't know where it was and stopped Sonic again.

"Where's the Council Room?" Shadow asked.

Sonic paused for a moment, staring at Shadow quizzically then grinning like a tom cat who found a stash of fish.

"Why do you want to know?" Sonic asked, smirking from ear to ear.

Shadow flinched. He hated it when Sonic acted like he knew a secret.

"Never mind, I'll find it myself," Shadow mumbled, turning away.

"Wait, wait, wait." Sonic said. "I'll show you around, so you won't get lost in the Castle."

...8 HOURS LATER...

"And this is the place where the priests and priestesses interact with their Lady, the Blue Moon," Sonic continued.

They were in a very spacious and circular room. The floor was covered in blue mosaic tiles with billowing white curtains decorating every inch of the wall around them. There were piles of little trinkets and cushions on which several people sat, praying to their Lady. In the middle was an elegant piece of architecture- a large fountain resembling a bird bath.

"Sonic," Shadow growled.

"You would think they keep hot dogs around, you know, because the Lady might get hungry," Sonic droned on.

"Sonic!" Shadow shouted.

"Yeah?"

"Shut. Up." Shadow bit off his words. "I just want to find Amy. I didn't ask for a tour of the entire kingdom!"

Sonic opened his mouth, but a dewdrop voice beat him to it.

"You're so full of anger, Master." the sweet voice giggled.

"Who's there?" Shadow shouted.

"Don't tell me you forgot me, Master. I am Blue Moon, your faithful servant for all eternity." Blue Moon answered.

The people around Shadow and Sonic gasped in surprise. They whispered amongst themselves: "The Lady called him Master!" "That black hedgehog is a god?" "Why is a God here?"

Shadow's mind couldn't process this new information. Him? A God? He shoved it to the way back of his mind and focused on Amy again. He had to find her. He had to know if she was safe. He had to keep his promise to Lucerne...and to himself.

"What's this about you being a God, Shadow?" Sonic whispered.

Blue Moon laughed in her ringing voice.

"My Master has put himself in such a dramatic situation!" she chimed.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Shadow claimed, his voice rising above the rumors. "I just want to go find Amy, so I'll talk to you later."

"Of course you do," Blue Moon sighed. "Would you like to see where she is? Look into my pool and I will send you the image."

Curious, Shadow walked over to the fountain and looked at his reflection. Before his eyes, the image turned and twisted until he finally saw the image of Amy Rose, sitting on a bench somewhere outside. Shadow let out a small sigh of relief. Then he saw her jump up and get kidnapped.

"Amy!" Shadow shouted, alarmed.

"Oh, my," Blue Moon said.

"I have to save her!" Shadow announced.

"Calm down, Shadow," Sonic said. "We don't even know where she is right now."

Shadow glared at Sonic. His eyes were mad with desperation.

"She's in danger!"

Shadow and Sonic got into a loud argument with the people around them trying to calm them down. Just as it was getting out of hand, Kara arrived.

"What's going on?" Kara screeched.

Shadow turned towards Kara and glared.

"You! You have to go save her!" he commanded.

"Save who?"

"Amy. She was kidnapped!"

"Kidnapped?" Kara took a sharp intake of breath. "Kidnapped by who?"

"Them!" Shadow and Sonic pointed at Blue Moon's pool where the image reflected a couple of soldiers in golden armor tossing the sac with Amy inside into the back of a carriage. Kara glared at the image.

"Dawns." she hissed. "We're going to have to go into Morning Realm if we want her back."

"If you know where to go, let's not waste any more time!" Shadow growled.

"It's too dangerous," Kara said. "If one of our soldiers were to march in to save her, then we will be forced to go into war. I can't let that happen!"

Shadow slammed his fists on the rim of the fountain angrily and threw Kara a dirty look.

Stiffly, he started to walk out of the Shrine Room.

"Shadow! Where are you going?" Sonic asked.

"I'm not a soldier here. I'm going to save Amy."


	4. Rejoin and Rejoice

CHAPTER 4

(Amy Rose)

There was a spicy scent in the air and it tickled Amy's nose, prodding her awake, but all she wanted was to return to her dream. Yes, the same dream with the starlit Cheiras. It was a better world there- so much nicer than the reality she would have to face once she opened her eyes. However, Amy felt gentle caresses along her arms and quills from an unfamiliar hand. It kept bringing up urgent thoughts within her mind and she began to wonder why. She was not at home. Kara had found her...Sonic was kidnapped...That's right...she was kidnapped by freaks, strangers who came out of nowhere and ambushed her. She was in danger...

She jumped awake. Falling off the lap of the stranger, Amy landed awkwardly on the marble floor. Her eyes dashed around as she tried to get a bearing on her new surroundings.

She was in a Throne Hall, a place where common folks were allowed to talk to their ruler about their troubles. It was a fairly large and golden room with a hundred open windows on each side of the walkway from the doors to the throne itself. Besides the delicate carvings on the gleaming gold all around the room, there was nothing else but the throne. No carpets to warm the floor, no paintings to stare out from their frames, and no decorations period. Even the throne was very plain, but the lack of ornaments was made up for by the overly expressive style of the king and his followers.

"Do you remember me?" the king asked.

Speechless, Amy shook her head.

"What about your sisters?" he asked again, gesturing to the two hedgehogs beside him.

Amy stared at them. It was true that she found them familiar in a way, but she did not recognize them. The tallest had bright yellow quills, sky-blue eyes, and golden skin. Clad in ivory silk and diamonds, she looked like a dew drop of the sun itself. The other hedgehog was a fiercer version of the golden one. She had orange-red quills, golden eyes, and a very tan skin. Everything she wore created an image of some great fire as if she was a phoenix that rose from ashes.

"Do you remember who you are?" the king finally asked after waiting a few minutes.

"My name is Amy Rose," Amy replied.

The king shook his head. "No, you're not."

Amy felt her essence burn the air around her.

"I think I know who I am. The question is, who are you?" she spat.

"I am the Great Aurin! The King of the Morning Realm!" he announced to the world.

Amy took a step back in shock. She was in the Morning Realm? How? When? Why?

"What do you want with me?" Amy demanded.

"What do I want with you? You belong here, Armistice. I want you back home." King Aurin replied. "This is your place. You are a part of Day. Do you not remember anything?"

"M-My name isn't Armistice," Amy answered. Her voice was shaking and she hated herself for it. She hated the way he was making her feel- as if she did not know herself.

"Do you really not remember, Armistice?" the golden hedgehog spoke up in her majestic voice. It trembled as if she was on the verge of tears. "Have you forgotten Sera? Have you forgotten me? I'm your sister, Armi. I'm Gladis."

When Amy would not reply, Gladis collapsed in tears. Amy felt terrible and wanted to cheer her up, but she couldn't. Her name was Amy Rose-not Armistice. She looked up into the blue eyes of King Aurin. What was going on?

(Shadow)

Shadow's hands tossed the chaos emerald back and forth restlessly. He had travelled all night, but he didn't feel himself getting any closer to Amy. He would Chaos Control to her, but he couldn't just randomly do that. He had to have an image of the place he wanted to go to in order to use the chaos emerald and this "Morning Realm" was a place he had never been to. His body ached to just give up and take a nap for a moment. Even the Ultimate Lifeform needed a break every once in a while.

No. He couldn't rest. Amy could be dying as he slept. So Shadow continued to trudge on under the blazing sun. He had to save Amy. What was it that Lucerne told him again? Something about Armistice and Amy being the same person. That Armistice had pretended to be Lucerne's older sister so that Lucerne would not be sacrificed to some God. That if Shadow kept Amy alive, he would eventually find out the truth. But what truth? He needed to know...

"Excuse me, sir."

Shadow snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to regard the fox who had called out to him. The fox stared down at Shadow from his place in a guard tower. As Shadow quickly looked around, he found himself in front of a long bridge, connecting the mountain he was on to the one in the distance. It was one of those mossy, wooden bridges that swung according to the wind and that seemed ready to collapse any minute.

"Sir, if you want to go into the Morning Realm, then you must show me your passport." the fox said.

"This is the path into the Morning Realm?" Shadow asked.

"Yes sir."

Shadow smirked. "My passport is right here."

Shadow shot the fox with a chaos spear, knocking the fox unconscious. Feeling pretty proud to have found it without anyone's help, Shadow raced onwards to Amy.

"Almost there Amy. Just hang on..."

(Amy Rose)

Amy Rose was dressed in an elegant gown of lilac cotton, lightweight and airy, but she had to stop and catch her breath every now and then, because the garnets and topaz she was decorated with were heavier than a knight's armor. She had only been in the Morning Realm for less than a day and she already felt as if she was home. Everyone here were always telling her about Armistice. According to them, Armistice was a beautiful, kind, and compassionate Lady of the Dawn. She and her two sisters, Sera and Gladis, were the Daughters of the Sun.

They were part of the Legend. The Legend states that in the Beginning, earth, water, and air came together and with their unity, the World was created. With the creation of the World came the creation of the sky and the creatures on the earth. As years past, the sky split into Night and Day. From Daylight came the Three Daughters of the Sun: Armistice, Seramin, and Gladista. While the Daughters of the Sun ruled the Morning Realm together, the Night Realm believed in ranking. Eventually, one rose to the top as Night God and the others fell into place under him. With the sky split, the creatures on earth split, too.

At this point, whoever Amy was talking to would break down and start crying. Sera and King Aurin were the only ones who didn't, so when Sera came up to talk to Amy, she was glad for the company.

"So Amy," Sera said. "Have you remembered anything yet?"

"I don't think there is anything to remember," Amy replied.

Sera nodded in understanding. "I totally get what you're saying, but don't you have any memories as Armistice?"

"Like what?"

"Well, I don't know..."

"Come on, Sera," Amy said, smiling playfully. "Tell me."

"Have you forgotten Shadow?" Sera blurted.

Amy's smile wiped away and her entire body froze. Shadow. It was _his_ name- the mysterious stranger in her dreams- the gentle hedgehog with red wine eyes- the same hedgehog she was with in the field of starlit Cheiras. For some reason, hearing it from Sera's mouth made her remember. But how could he have the same name as Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Lifeform whose heart was only for Maria? Could it be the same Shadow? Suddenly, Amy felt her consciousness slip away from her. It was all too much. Memories long forgotten came rushing back.

She remember listening to an old hedgehog's pleas to save her daughter, running away from the Morning Realm, pretending to be Lucerne's older sister, and being sacrificed to Shadow. That was when they first met. Of course, she hated him at first. Why wouldn't she? She was the Dawn and he was the Night. Yes, she was Armistice, the Lady of the Dawn, a Daughter of the Sun. And she was in love with Shadow.

"Shadow..." Amy whispered.

"Amy?"

Amy whipped around as Sera gasped in surprise. On the window sill with his quills blocking out the setting sun was none other than Shadow the Hedgehog.

"Shadow!" Amy cried. "How did you get here?"

"Not easily," he replied coldly, but she knew better.

Amy rushed up and hugged Shadow. Overwhelmed by this sudden attack, Shadow froze. Amy nuzzled into his chest fur and sighed contently, happily drinking in his presence. After a few minutes, Shadow relaxed and hugged Amy back, letting her scent engulf him. He closed his eyes in relief, but opened them again to stare at Sera who was frozen in shock and embarrassment.

"Um, Amy?" Shadow asked. "Who is she?"

Amy glanced behind her at Sera. She couldn't decide what to tell him. Should she just introduce Shadow to Sera? But that idea seemed to come with many strings attached and she was not ready to tell him everything just yet. However, Sera chose for Amy.

"Guards! Guards!" Sera cried.

"Sera!" Amy hissed. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing? I'm saving you!" Sera shouted. "Guards!"

Amy opened her mouth to say something else, but Shadow was already leading her out of the window.

"Come on," he said. "Let's get out of here!"

Amy blushed as Shadow scooped her up and jumped down into an alley. The entire area was already starting to swarm with guards. Shadow raced along roads and paths, twisting and jumping over fences, but the guards were pretty fast, too. Amy started wondering if Shadow knew where he was going. After running for a while, Shadow began to pant.

"Are you okay Shadow?" Amy asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," Shadow grunted.

"Put me down, Shadow," Amy sighed. "I know I'm heavy right now."

"No," Shadow growled. "I won't let you slip away from me again."

Amy's jaw dropped. Did he remember who he was?

Shadow let his hands skim the jewels adorning Amy. "It's because of these jewels right?"

"What?"

Without another word, Shadow ripped off the gems from Amy, scattering priceless diamonds and topaz all over the rugged stone path around them. The rough treatment left faint red marks on Amy's skin. Shadow took her hand and licked the insides of her wrists.

"Sorry," Shadow whispered in between licks. Amy blushed.

Their little break was interrupted when a guard spotted them.

"There they are!"

Shadow picked up Amy once again and ran off. With the extra weight lifted, Shadow could run faster and easier. Eventually, they came across an untrustworthy bridge.

"Shadow-" Amy began.

"Trust me," Shadow said.

They raced onto the bridge, but just as they reached the middle, the bridge snapped. Amy's heart flew to her throat, her stomach flipped, and she buried her face in Shadow. Fear put her mind in a panic. The air rushed in their ears and as they dropped, so did the sun. The moment they were about to hit the ground, the sky turned dark and the Soldiers of the Morning Realm were left with the ringing sound of Shadow's voice. The two hedgehogs had vanished with the light.

(Shadow)

Adrenaline still rushed through his veins and his heart continued to pound as he lay in the field of Cheiras with Amy trembling in his arms. They had just barely escaped death. Shadow was relieved he was still alive, but more importantly, he was glad that she was safe. Amy was finally here in his arms. She was alive and she was safe. He leaned down and kissed her head softly.

"It's okay, now," Shadow whispered. "We're safe."

Amy looked up and Shadow forgot to breathe. With her eyes sparkled with the remnants of her tears, Amy's emerald eyes were a sea of spring- a stormy cloud of endless trust. Her face was flushed a delicate pink from the excitement and Shadow could feel her hot breath on his throat. Her fingers were knotted in his chest fur, her body pressed against his, and her scent was mingling with the Cheiras. He slowly leaned down again and kissed her. The taste was sweet and soft and everything it should be. He wrapped his arms around her waist affectionately. Amy kissed him back and soon, they were wrestling for dominance.

The sky was filled with stars and the full moon was such a deep shade of blue that it seemed to melt into the black universe. Shadow was intoxicated. And he didn't mind it one bit.

-Unfortunately, as the two hedgehogs fell into love's grasps, a war was brewing. The Morning Realm and the Night Realm had finally declared war on each other.


	5. How it Came to Be

CHAPTER 5

(Amy Rose)

Amy watched the silver rain pour down on the gray stones outside the barred hole in the wall. She couldn't remember how long it had been since she woke up alone in this cell. It was suffocating to breathe as if the air refused to alleviate the lungs and there was no light source besides the stars. Without the sun, her skin itched and felt disgusting, but there was nothing to be done about it. She was a prisoner here. Everything was gray and everything was dark- like a moonless night, but without Shadow there to make it beautiful. To make it worse, the aura of the land held her powers captive, making it so that she could not hear the sweet song of chaos emeralds or let the warmth of dawn travel through her veins.

This was the second time she was here. The other time was after she was sacrificed in Lucerne's place and had her soul transported to Shadow's Castle. But as Amy continued to stare at the liquid silver, she realized there was something wrong. This was not the same Realm of Silence from the past. It was half complete. The rain fell, but did not splash and create pools. The moons she remembered in the sky were not there. No stars. No Shadow. Was this because Shadow was in the mortal world?

Questions ran through long hallways, but it was a maze in her mind- she couldn't think straight at all. How did she get here? Where was Shadow?

Suddenly, the door to her prison opened.

"My pink little demon," a husky voice curled into her ears. "How nice to see you again."

Amy slowly turned to stare at a black hedgehog with red stripes. Smirking grimly, he glared down at her with his luminescent ruby eyes. He looked exactly like Shadow, but it wasn't the same hedgehog she kissed last night. This mysterious soul watched her with black hatred.

"You aren't Shadow," Amy said. "Who are you?"

"I am the true ruler of the stars. I am Shadow, the God of the Night."

Amy's eyes widened.

(Shadow)

"She was with me just last night. Tell me, where is she now?" Shadow shouted at the guards around his bed.

"Calm down, Shadow." Kara huffed. "Rosetta was not with you when we found you."

Shadow had woken up in Amy's old bed back in Gorziken Castle. He couldn't remember how he got here or what happened to Amy. Did she get kidnapped by the Morning Realm again? If so, why did they leave him alive? Does that mean she went back on her own? Why did she leave him?

Shadow clenched the sheets in his fists in frustration. It didn't make sense.

A soft, delighted gasp drew him back to reality.

"My Lord," a blue echidna whispered. "It really is you."

Clothed in flowing black silk, the new arrival stood beside Kara and Sonic at the entrance. The red light from the sleepy sunset cast the echidna's shadow onto the bed as her tears dripped onto the carpet below, darkening the color.

"Who are you?" Shadow growled. He had no patience for anyone at the moment.

"My name is Plume Rivoli. I am the Queen of the Night Realm." she answered, bowing low on the ground.

"My Empress," Kara said, "you do not need to bow to this hedgehog."

Plume shot up and smacked Kara.

"You fool! This is Shadow, your Lord! Show some respect to our God!"

Kara rubbed her head. "But he doesn't even show any power of a God!"

"Hmm, that is an interesting point. My Lord, what has happened to you?" Plume asked Shadow.

Shadow stared in disbelief. Why did people keep calling him a God? He may be an Ultimate Lifeform, but he wasn't a supernatural being! But before he could answer, Plume was already dismissing the idea.

"It matters little. He is the God of Night. I make no mistakes!" Plume declared. "With his presence, we will surely win the war!" The guards around the room cheered.

"What war?" Shadow asked.

"The Night Realm and the Morning Realm declared war against each other. Since Gorziken Kingdom is a part of the Night Realm, it's forced to fight the Morning Realm, too." Sonic answered. "With you as their Night God, they believe they will win."

"The Morning Realm?"

Shadow thought back to the face of Sera, Amy's sister. Was she going to fight, too? No matter how much he hated them, he couldn't possible harm anyone who loved Amy. It was impossible. He could already see Amy's tear-smeared face, betrayed and in pain. His heart twisted cruelly. Impossible. When had he fallen in love so much?

"No," Shadow rasped. "I can't fight them. Amy would be upset with me."

"But-" Plume started.

"No!" Shadow shouted. "Get out! Stay away from me!"

Everyone stared in shock and quietly slinked away, closing the door behind them as they left the room. As soon as the door closed, Plume whipped around and glared at Kara. Kara, knowing what was coming next, sighed.

"Amy? Your Rosetta weapon? Tell me what's going on!" Plume spat angrily.

"Shadow is in love with Rosetta. That's all I know! I don't how or when it happened! All I know is that he ran off to save her from the Morning Realm after Blue Moon showed him an image of her being abducted by Dawn Knights." Kara shouted, throwing her hands into the sky in exasperation.

"I can't believe this," Plume muttered. "A God falling in love with a mere mortal."

(Amy Rose)

Shadow (2) had roughly taken Amy from the prison and practically dragged her outside. The rain was warm and vanished the moment they touched her skin. The Realm of Silence looked worse up close. Everything seemed to have deteriorated. It was so sad, she wanted to cry, but the pain from his grip on her wrists prevented tears.

Suddenly, the silver and gray world disappeared and all that was left was pitch darkness. Amy felt as if she was in a vacuum. She could feel nothing. Not the rain nor Shadow (2). Then,

he finally spoke.

"Six centuries ago, the Gods and Goddesses all met in the Hall of Hearts to attend the annual Golden Ambrosia, a celebration of immortality and power. This was when you were Armistice. You may not remember, but it was during this event when we first met. You were as foolish then as you are now, but I fell in love anyways.

Don't think it was because you were pretty. There were many goddesses more beautiful and graceful than you. In fact, one of them was your sister. The tall, golden one. Yes, she was very lovely back then with that Egyptian cotton dress. She was very protective of you and Sera, you know. She probably still is. Unfortunately for her, Sera was always running off and flirting with the young gods. But you were different. Obedient and shy, you were stuck to her like glue. Ha ha ha. I laughed back then, too. You were like an innocent little lamb following its master. A lot of the young gods wanted a chance to talk to Gladis alone. I was one of them. We drew sticks to see who would be burdened with the task of keeping you away. Yeah, you guessed it. I was the unlucky winner.

I waited until you went out to get some fresh air, away from all the frivolous activity. I was feeling rather annoyed, so I took it out on you. I forcefully carried you away into the Garden Maze and let myself get lost. You kept screaming in my ear the entire time, kicking helplessly. After half an hour, I got tired so I dropped you off and left."

"You left me in a maze?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, so what?" the Night God growled.

"Never mind," Amy sighed. "Continue. Please."

"Alright, where was I? Hmm. Ah, that's right. Yeah, I left you in a maze. I didn't want to waste my time trying to entertain you, so I thought if I left you in a maze, it will take you awhile to get back. Heh. Imagine my surprise when I hear you haven't returned even after it's been three hours. So I went back in to find you and there you were, sitting way too calmly in the dark for a light-lover. When I asked you why you didn't move from the spot I dumped you in, you told me you got captivated by the starry night.

'The stars aren't as bright as daylight. They're not pretty at all.' I said. You laughed after that."

His eyes turned hazy as he was drawn into his tale.

"You told me you that weren't looking at the stars at all, but at the space in between. So I sat down beside you and we looked at the night sky together. I couldn't figure out what was so beautiful about it. It was just a dull black with white polka-dots to me. That was all I could see. After a few more minutes, I must have said something, because you laughed again! You told me what you saw in the sky. As you explained, the white polka-dots became white crystals, lighting up like fireworks, and the dull black in between became a fusion of deep violets and midnight blues. The sky had turned into an art exhibit so mysterious and intriguing, I was captivated. You made me see my realm as something beautiful.

After that night, I didn't see you again until you ran away from home. And to become a sacrifice out of all the reasons to run away! You protected that Lucerne female. It was against the rules to switch the sacrifice, but I accepted you anyways. It had been a long time since we first met and I had lost the ability to see the night sky as a beautiful thing, but I wanted to have that vision again. I was almost sad when I realized you had forgotten me. I must have not been important enough. But the saddest part was when you told me you hated me. Multiple times."

"Sorry." Amy blinked, trying to absorb the flood of new information. "I forgot."

"Obviously." he huffed. "You refused to eat or drink for days. Especially if I was around."

"I don't remember ever being with you during a Golden Ambrosia, but I do remember what happened after that," Amy whispered.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. The first thing I ate was that strawberry you shoved in my mouth!"

The dark hedgehog laughed.

"You should of seen your face back then, it was hilarious!"

"...So," Amy began. He looked up at her curiously. "Why are there two Shadows right now?"

"Ah, that..."

"Yeah, that."

"Do you remember how you died?"

"Died? Me? When?"

"If you don't remember, I don't think I should tell you." he sighed.

(Shadow)

The bombs fell daily. In the mornings, the Night Realm played defense and in the nights, it played offense. Back and forth for hours. Neither side would yield.

Everyday, Plume and Kara would visit Shadow, trying to convince him to join the war, and every time, he would refuse. Back and forth for hours. Neither side would yield. Shadow had spent almost a week doing nothing but sitting and wondering where Amy was.

"Shadow buddy," Sonic sighed. "You have got to stop this. For all we know, you'll rot away into dust!"

Shadow remained silent.

"How do you know Amy isn't in the Morning Realm?" Sonic asked. "For all we know, they have her captured in a cell somewhere. Think about it. The Night Realm has their God, but the Morning Realm needs all three of their ladies to be completely protected. If they don't have Amy, why would they fight a battle they were likely to lose?"

Shadow stared at Sonic, a sort of understanding glinting in his eyes. It twisted and turned until he was glaring at Sonic with blood-shot eyes. He jerked up and marched out of the room purposefully.

"Wha-" Sonic started to ask.

"If you must know, I'm going to save Amy!" Shadow shouted.

"Woah, deja vu." Sonic murmured.

(Amy Rose)

"Tell me!" Amy shouted into the darkness. "Please. Who is the real Shadow? Where is the Shadow I fell in love with?"

Suddenly, Amy felt ice freezing all around her, turning her body into crystal. She began to panic and let out short gasps. Shadow (2) wrapped his hands around her neck and began to choke her.

"Love? What love? You call what you did actions of love? You ruined me! You ruined this realm!" Shadow yelled at her. "Because of you the Night Kingdom is dying! With my essence split into two, the night sky is vanishing!"

"What?" Amy gasped.

Shadow (2) tightened his grip on her neck, making Amy slip into unconsciousness.

She dreamed of the time she spent with Shadow the last time she was in the Realm of Silence. The first couple of days, they fought every time they saw each other. Then, as Amy was walking through a field of thorns and roses, she looked up and saw the night sky for the second time...

...It was just as beautiful as the first time. The eternal pool of rich darkness dancing in between the stars took her breath away. Stunned, she collapsed on the thorns, but she did not feel any pain. She stayed like that for hours- fixated on the night with the scent of roses climbing the air- lost in her thoughts. Shadow had found her just like that. He said nothing as he stood beside her.

'If you continue to look at the sky, your neck will start to hurt.' Shadow said.

'But if I look away now, then I won't be able to see its beauty.' Amy replied.

Another mist of silence enveloped them until finally, Shadow sighed. He picked up a rose and transformed it. Twisting its shape and changing its color, he finally created a new flower- the Cheira.

'Look over here, Amy.' he whispered.

Reluctantly, Amy turned away from the sky. She let out a gasp of surprise as she caught sight o f the Cheira in Shadow's hands. It was magnificent- a lovely universe- a miniature galaxy- a reflection of the night sky.

'It's beautiful,' she whispered. 'I love it.'

'You do?'

'Yes.'

Shadow stared at her lips and felt his heart tugging. He leaned down and placed his hands on Amy's head, gently caressing her face.

'If you close your eyes, I'll give you something nice.' Shadow murmured in her ears.

Amy looked down embarrassed. Her hesitation was driving Shadow mad, so he did the natural thing to do. He kissed her. She kissed him back. With a burst of energy, the field of thorns and roses transformed into Cheiras, turning the land around them into a reflecting night pool. Their heartbeats counted the stars and after all the stars were counted, they leaned away from each other. Amy's face was flushed and it made Shadow's heart skip beats. She was beautiful in his eyes- a perfection. They kissed again even more sweetly than the first time.

The dream began to go faster. Images flashed by. Shadow's tears- his hand reaching for her- falling- daylight invading the night- the sky being torn apart. The Cheiras fell into the gaping hole, hurtling into the mortal world. Shadow's mouth moved. What was he saying?

'I love you, Amy. You can't leave me!'

'There's nothing you can do, Shadow. We were born to be apart. I belong to the Morning. The mortal world is calling to me.'

'I'll find you again. We'll be together. You'll see.'

(Shadow)

The sky was split into two. There was distinct line in between the morning sky and the night sky. The roar of battle deafened Shadow's ears and his mind was completely focused on the enemy in front of him. Blood splashed on his hands- on the ground. This was what happened in wars. Death was inevitable. Another fallen soldier. Shadow advanced again and chose another target. His heart hurt. Where was she? He had to find her.

Shadow bit his tongue to keep himself from crying out. His attacks became more wild and out of control. He was starting to lose it. Suddenly, a massive Morning Soldier approached him with his hammer raised high above his head. Shadow's eyes grew wide as the weapon swung towards him.

(Amy)

Amy felt cold. The ice had melted a long time ago, but her body was still shivering. She could feel Shadow (2)'s eyes on her from somewhere in the dark.

"Tell me," Amy rasped. "Did you split your soul just so you can be with me in the mortal world?" He remained silent. "I didn't want this. Did you know it was going to destroy your world? Why did you do it? And why must you take it out on me! I never asked you to do this!"

Shadow (2) sent her flying backwards with a blast of energy. When she tried to get up, he knocked her down again. Amy's entire body ached, but she forced herself to sit up and reach blindly through the dark until she felt his soft fur. She found it wet with Shadow (2)'s tears.

"I did it because I loved you. I didn't want to lose you, Amy. Forgive me. I have destroyed something you love without meaning to." he cried.

Silently, Amy drew him into a hug.

"I love you, Shadow." Amy whispered.

As Amy let her fingers comb through Shadow's fur, she felt him calming down. The Realm of Silence around them was repairing itself. The gray rubble turned back into vibrant onyx towers and the silver rain ceased. The world morphed until finally, Amy and Shadow (2) were found themselves in the middle of a field of Cheiras. It was exactly like the place in her memories- beautiful and mystical.

"Shad-" Amy began.

Right before her eyes, Shadow (2) was disappearing. Amy's eyes widened, but when she tried to touch him, she fell.

For a moment, she was completely sealed in darkness, but bit by bit, she felt the sun surround her. Her essence fanned around her and she could feel the wind rush through her quills. She felt alive, but that was not the only thing that appeared. The sharp rustic smell of blood whipped the air and as Amy's vision returned, she found a war scene.

And there was Shadow, facing a final blow to the head. The hammer found its mark as Amy let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"SHADOW!"


	6. The End

CHAPTER 6

(Shadow)

Shadow blinked in the darkness around him, staring at his reflection. Same red eyes, same face, same fur color, same body structure. Except, this reflection was pretty solid looking. After a few more minutes, Shadow began to doubt that there was a mirror in front of him.

"Who are you?" Shadow asked, but the reflection just stared. Perhaps he was wrong. Maybe there really was a mirror in front of him. However, the reflection's mouth did not move when he spoke. Shadow asked again, "Who are you?"

The reflection sighed.

"Such a mess you got yourself in," the reflection grumbled. "It makes me wonder what you were thinking when you started this game. Then again, you probably weren't thinking at all, were you. You caused a lot of trouble in the mortal world, you know. The Night Kingdom, too. The Realm of Silence sure wasn't benefitting from a half soul. I've gotta know, was she worth it?" The reflection paused a moment before smiling as he chuckled to himself. "Yeah, she was...she is."

Shadow stared at his reflection in silent confusion. The reflection looked up as if he had just realized that Shadow was there.

"You don't remember what you are, do you?" the reflection laughed. "Did only my part of the soul contain memories? I'm talking about Armistice." Shadow's ears perked up. "Well, I guess you know her as Amy Rose."

"What?" Shadow gasped.

"Armistice. Amy Rose. Two different names, but the one and only." the reflection stated. "You really did forget, but don't worry. It'll come back once we rejoin."

"Rejoin? What do you mean?"

"I am the half of Shadow that is the God of Night and you are the other half. Years ago, Shadow's soul and essence split into two, me and you, so that one of us could gain a mortal body and live in the Mortal World." Shadow (2) waved his hand over the space in between them and a battle scene appeared. As Shadow watched, Amy blasted a Morning Soldier away from his body that was lying cold and broken. "Foolish girl. That body is useless now."

Shadow reached for it with his essence, but received an electric shock. Gritting his teeth, he tried again and got the same results. His hand was starting to burn.

"So what happens now?" Shadow choked on the words.

"You seem to accept who you really are, so let us join and become one again. It's irritating to be a half of a spirit." Shadow (2) yawned.

The two Shadow spirits converged as the area around them grew darker as if darkness itself was a spirit, too, and was rejoicing in their union. For a moment, everything was black. Then, Shadow breathed deeply and opened his eyes- fierce pools of blood that stood out from the darkness. There was no air, but it was not oxygen he breathed- it was power. The power of the God of Night. He found himself chuckling as the memories returned- about Armistice and Amy and his decision in getting Dr. Robotnik to create a body for him to possess. Ah, Armistice. No, she goes by the name Amy Rose, now. He felt his body tremble with pain. It was slightly annoying. A great God like him had fallen in love with such a minor Goddess.

(Amy)

Amy knew she was crying. She could feel the tears on her face stick to the skin. She cried for the dying people in this battle, the blood spilled, and for Shadow. When he had collapsed, she had felt his essence enter the Realm of Silence. The body behind her was nothing more than a lifeless shell, forever frozen in its present state.

She knew this, but she continued to guard it. Even as the sky was infested by the darkness of the Night, signaling the return of Shadow in his complete form. The ground below them morphed into an ocean of Cheiras, an almost exact replica of the Field of Cheiras in the Realm of Silence. The stars blinked down at her and the two Ladies of the Moon appeared together in the sky. Their essence spilled out of their place in the sky to take on hazy, mortal forms a few yards away from the battlefield. Like ghosts, the Ladies of the Moon glided through the Cheiras until they came face to face with Amy. Then they parted to show the descent of Shadow. Amy wanted to cry. She knew what would come next. It was what she had feared for many years- rejection.

Amy and Shadow locked their gazes on each other. Amy's tears continued to flow like a waterfall.

Shadow was majestic. Clad in silver metal chains and deep velvet, he strode towards them with his cape billowing out behind him and his power electrifying the air in a most frightening way. His face was a frozen fire, cold yet managing to look furious. His mouth was set in a determined frown and his hands were fisted in an effort to control his rampaging emotions. Amy knew it was taking a lot of concentration and energy to appear in his present state. The Night God was never meant to be in the Mortal World.

Amy wanted to run to him, embrace him...kiss him. Instead, she locked her body into place. The closer Shadow got, the harder it was to not run to him. When Shadow finally stood in front of her, only a few inches away, Amy couldn't help but lean forward. Shadow raised his hand to touch her.

A spear suddenly got in between the two hedgehogs. Amy looked beside her to see Sera's distressed face. A few feet away, Gladis was also poised to attack with a loaded bow.

"Don't. Move." Sera hissed.

Shadow remained silent, not moving his eyes away from Amy's face.

"How long do you plan to ignore your sister's wish?" Shadow asked Sera. "Amy wants to be with me, isn't that right, Amy?"

"It doesn't matter what she wants! It's wrong for the daylight to embrace the night!" Gladis shouted.

"Can't we call a truce?" Autumn Moon spoke up. "We share the same sky. They obviously love each other. Why can't you let your sister go?"

"With the Day and Night divided like this, don't you think it's as if the sky has fallen?" Blue Moon sighed.

Hearing this, the soldiers from Gorziken Kingdom, including Sonic and Kara, dropped their weapons. This caused a ripple of surrenders throughout the mortals until all the weapons were abandoned.

This entire time, Shadow and Amy were staring at each other.

'This can never work, you know. Even with the Mortal World's consent.' Amy's eyes said.

'Are you saying our love was not meant to be?' Shadow's eyes asked.

'Please, Shadow. Just give up.' Amy's eyes pleaded.

Shadow closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, he refused to look at Amy. Staring at the ground, he got down on his knee and plucked up a Cheira from the ground. As the world watched, the Cheira transformed. The delicate petals wrapped around each other and the center shrunk into the petals, creating a lovely pattern of shooting stars and revealing the most beautiful gem. Its shape was a perfect sphere and its color was like the most beautiful dawn sky-pale pink with wisps of light yellow, baby blue, and lilac. Shadow slowly raised his eyes to look into Amy's gleaming emerald pools.

"Will you marry me?"

Amy covered her mouth in shock. Even Sera dropped her weapon in surprise. Not far away, Autumn Moon and Blue Moon cheered. Their joy infected the audience in the background. The armies, from both the Morning Realm and Night Realm, started to cheer and applaud.

While everyone was fixed on Amy and Shadow, no one realized that Gladis had snapped. The ring in Shadow's hand was a curse in Gladis's point of view- a trick to take away her beloved little sister. In her crazed state of mind, she had let her arrow fly.

The arrow did nothing more than graze Shadow's hand, but with the way he was using most of his energy to maintain a mortal form and Gladis's arrow being a shot of pure solar energy, it unbalanced Shadow's control over his powers. Shadow quickly got up, but he was already starting to fade. He tried to hand Amy the ring, but as he reached out his hand, he vanished. The ring dropped onto a Cheira. The night sky began to fade and the dawn took over. Amy bent down and picked up her ring. Yes, it was her ring, because in her mind, she had accepted even if she wasn't able to say it.

'Shadow, I love you,' Amy confessed in her mind. She trembled as she clutched the ring to her heart and started to cry again. 'I love you. I love you. I love you.'

(EPILOGUE)

It had been moons since that fateful battle. In honor of the union of the Day and the Night, the people from both realms came together and built the Tempest, a castle that stood in the middle of the same land the two realms had fought on. Many of the Cheiras had withered away after Shadow had returned to the Realm of Silence, but some had been saved and put in their own special garden around the castle. The Tempest had become a very convenient place for the people of the two realms to sell goods to each other and was a very popular place to live among the nobles.

Today, it was extra crowded with people from all across the lands, because of the Festival of Starlight. It was a festival originally exclusive to the Night Realm, but with the Union, the Morning Realm was invited to attend. Children ran around, excitedly waiting for the stars to appear. Amy couldn't help smiling. It was good to see the Morning Realm and the Night Realm interacting with each other.

"Rosetta! There you are!" someone called to Amy.

"Kara!" Amy smiled.

Kara and Amy embraced. They had become friends again the same day the Union was made officially. Amy was glad to return to being Kara's friend, but knew there was still some tension between them. The fact that Kara still called her Rosetta was proof that the past could not be forgotten.

"Kara!" Sonic cried. "Don't run so much!"

Sonic emerged from the crowd looking very flustered.

"Oh, hush. I'm not even fat yet!" Kara protested. (According to Kara, you are not yet pregnant if you are not fat.)

"That doesn't mean you're not pregnant! Think of our child!" Sonic blubbered.

Surprisingly, Sonic and Kara had fallen in love with each other. (It's surprising, because they are complete opposites.) They were not married yet, even though Kara was six weeks pregnant. Sonic was always asking her to marry him, but Kara had wiggled out of every single one so far. This occurred so many times, the public announced them married even though Kara never officially said yes. Watching them was a comedy show and Amy couldn't help but giggle every time they fought. Knowing Kara, Amy knew Kara was just too embarrassed to accept Sonic's proposal.

"They're always so loud," Sera complained, hugging Amy from behind.

Sera had ignored Amy for days after the battle, but eventually agreed that Amy's happiness was the most important. It was thanks to Kara and Sera that the Union passed successfully. Nowadays, everyone liked the Union. Well, almost everyone. Gladis had yet to talk to Amy.

"That's how they get along," Amy laughed.

The public had formed a circle around Kara and Sonic, giving them plenty of space to work out their issues.

"They're causing traffic, again," Sera pointed out.

Amy just shrugged.

People had begun to set down blankets in the cool fields around them. Families clumped together and settled down to watch for the first star. The sky was getting darker and it was about time Amy and Sera get Sonic and Kara to calm down.

A few minutes later, the first star appeared and everyone got excited. Children pointed and whispered among each other as their parents explained the significance of it. Amy had heard the story many times, so she tuned them out and focused on the sky. More and more stars appeared, lighting up the sky in a beautiful arrangement.

Then, a star fell.

Amy blinked. Did that really just happen? Just as she was passing it off as her imagination, another star fell. Faster and faster, stars fell from the sky and created a Cheira wherever they touched. In a matter of a couple of heartbeats, the land around everyone was filled with starlit Cheiras. They glowed as if they were keeping the stars prisoner in their center and filled the air with a sweet scent. There was no moonlight to make them toxic or cause them to bloom. Since no one but Amy had ever witnessed this sight, people were afraid to touch them. The land became silent and they looked among each other for answers.

Amy, on the other hand, was captivated. She gingerly picked up a Cheira and kissed it. It's glow changed from white to blue. She kissed it again and it turned purple. Grinning slyly, Amy began to dance. Every Cheira she touched or passed by changed its color and soon, the children joined her, bringing the music with them. Before long, everyone was either dancing or playing an instrument. Laughter filled the air.

The Festival of Starlight had turned from a silent star gazing into a party. Amy tumbled out of the ring of dancers and smiled. She could see Sonic and Kara dancing together near the middle and Sera astonishing the children and elders by performing a fire dance. It was a wonderful sight- nearly perfect.

"Amy," a voice whispered behind her.

Amy turned around to find Gladis standing alone a few feet away.

"Gladis!" Amy cried with joy and ran to embrace her older sister. "I'm so glad to see you! Look, everyone is having a great time! Why don't you join us?"

Gladis smiled softly. "I hope that means you forgive me," she said.

Amy's smile dimmed and her eyes glazed over.

"You're my sister. I know you didn't mean to hurt me."

Amy and Gladis hugged each other.

"Thank you, Armi...I mean, Amy."

"No problem! Now, let's join Sera in a fire dance! She can't take all the attention!"

Amy took Gladis's hand and turned to go to Sera, but Gladis stood still. Confused, Amy turned back to Gladis.

"I have something to show you, first," Gladis whispered. She sounded excited and Amy's curiosity took over.

Gladis led Amy away from the party and into the Tempest. It was empty and dark, but the Cheiras outside illuminated the interior just enough for them to avoid a collision. They walked into the throne room and when they reached the thrones, Gladis uncovered a secret door behind a large tapestry that hung on the wall between two of the thrones. They walked up the steps of a tower that Amy have never entered, even though she was sure she had explored every single square meter of the castle. There were windows all along the walls, making the tower seem transparent when seen from far away. Amy's curiosity grew even more.

After a long climb, they came to a simple wooden door.

"Go on in," Gladis whispered. "He's waiting for you."

Amy watched Gladis descend the stairs and disappear behind a turn before facing the door again. She should have opened it slowly, but she got impatient. She more or less slammed the door open and walked into a small, but spacious room. There was a large round bed in the middle and all kinds of drapery and cushions littering the place in all kinds of different colors. There were only two windows. One was on the left in the shape of a sun and the other was on the right in the shape of a moon. They were stained glass windows- different from the previous windows that wound around the stairs behind her.

The room had a very homely and comfortable feel to it, but that was not what took Amy's breath away. Sitting lazily in the middle of the bed was none other than Shadow. He stared at her with his red wine eyes, liquefied and full of desire. He was draped in a simple, red robe that hung around him as if it was nothing more than part of the sheets. His black quills were ruffled and untidy, but that just made him look even more like a dream.

"S-Shadow?" Amy breathed the name.

Shadow smiled.

"We must thank Gladis for getting my permission to live on the Mortal World. But that will have to come later, of course." Shadow whispered.

"Later?" Amy whispered back.

"Yes. Later. Because right now, you have to tell me you agree to marry me."

Amy's humor returned to her. "And what if I say no?"

Shadow got up and hugged Amy. "Then I'll hold you like this until you finally say yes."

Amy giggled. "I seem to win either way."

"That's because I love you."

Amy's heart skipped a beat. Shadow loved her. Shadow was here. With her. Now...

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes, I'll marry you."

They kissed, full of passion for each other. This was happiness.

...And Forever.


End file.
